I tested out preview of Grand Slam Tennis 2 using a standard PlayStation 3 and a Move controller. From the perspective of someone who wants to feel like they’re playing tennis, the Move controller wins hands-down. The game’s Total Racquet Control system made it easy to perform loads of different shots using either the right stick or tilting and twisting the Move controller. The game was fun to play until I increased the difficulty level to hard and then got absolutely hammered by the AI. Yep, back to the practice courts for me.

I questioned Singleton about the differences between the control methods. “It all depends on how you want to play the game. If you want to sit down and relax on your couch and have a very rewarding, intuitive experience with total racquet control on the right stick, then go for it. If you want to re-enact your childhood and literally perform tennis strokes live in your living room from a gesture standpoint then Move is where it is at.”

The game features commentary from legendary ex-tennis players John McEnroe and Pat Cash. Singleton said “We hire the talent to be the talent and do what they do best and that’s call matches live whether that’s in FIFA, Madden or in this case Grand Slam Tennis 2. So what we did was we set up live matches prerecorded and had them call matches as they would in real life, making sure that we get all the scenarios that we want to make it authentic and sound realistic.”

Lets hope that this approach overcomes the problem of in-game commentary quickly becoming repetitive and stale which has plagued every sports title I’ve played.

Grand Slam Tennis 2 is released on the 10th Feb 2012 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

SPOILER WARNING: Even though Uncharted 2: Among Thieves came out in 2009, we appreciate that some people don’t want to read plot spoilers so stop reading now and enjoy the rest of The Average Gamer.

I asked Richmond if, as a studio, they found it hard killing off characters in the Uncharted games. He replied “I wish we hadn’t killed [Harry] Flynn. I loved Flynn. He’s one of my favourite characters in the series but sometimes people gotta go. Unfortunately.” Flynn was an old colleague of Drake’s, who betrayed him in the second game.

Richmond went on to say “Yeah, it’s tricky. Although it’s funny you should say that because Lazarevic [killed off in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune] who’s played by Graeme McTavish plays Cutter in this game. So they manage to come back to life in a different form. Robin [Atkin Downes] who played Novaro in the first game and Tenzin in the second game is Talbot in this game. So even though we kill them off they definitely come back.”

I called Uncharted 3 a technical and cinematic masterpiece in my review. Richmond admitted that “The cruise ship is the most technical thing we’ve ever done as a company. We have a procedurally generated ocean which means the computer is generating the waves dynamically every single time and that’s driving the animation of the cruise ship and then Drake’s animating on top of that, stumbling around and all kinds of stuff.”

Shipyard docks - One of the most stunning locations in Uncharted 3

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is out now on PlayStation 3.

The next update will include:

• New blocks and animals
• Doors and fences
• Bug fixes
• Foundation code for survival mode

Mojang plans to submit this update to the Android Market and the iOS App Store by the 8th Feb 2012.

Also check out our video of Minecraft: Pocket Edition in action on the Xperia PLAY from last years E3 Expo.

Expert Opinion:

I had seen convincing footage of quantum levitation a previous YouTube video which was doing the rounds in 2011 so I wasn’t initially suspicous of this being fake at all. Also being a big fan of the wipEout games I really wanted this to be real. But there were a number of triggers that broke the illusion for me:

1. The grey track – The way this was shadowed was a dead give-away. Anyone who has rendered grey objects in a 3D modelling program with ambient occlusion would recognise the way the shadows look. In some shots you can see white trim to track edge against the shadows below. This is probably a compositing issue where theres a gap in the alpha, with the white colour of the table showing through.


Look for the white rim around the outside of the track

2. The smoke – It can be seen to render on top of track parts that it should be under at certain times. For example, at 0.51 the smoke goes over archway. At 1.02 the smoke is on top of track wall and at 1:14 again on corner, smoke under the wall appears over it.
   

   The smoke trail goes right through the track

3. WipEout font – At 0:12 there is a great cross section drawing of the track which had the words wipeout:quantum at the bottom using the wipeout font. This isn’t a standard font you have lying around on your computer.


Here is the wipEout font

4. Ship placement – At 0.45 the way the ship is placed on the track looked very weird.


It's like he's not really holding the ship

If you get really picky then there are lots of other clues in the video to show that this is not real. There is some poor fake `Engrish` which doesn’t match how a Japanese speaking person would normally misspell english. Why were the nametags blurred out? That doesn’t really make sense. Also why is someone taking notes on a clipboard while the track piece is being shown? Were they trying to make it look all sciencey.

One thing I really did like was the seemingly hand-drawn wipEout text on the table, that was a very nice touch. Still, it’s a lot of fun and a great idea for a toy one day once they really work out how to do it. Based on this video, that might not be too far away.

There you go. Lots more evidence pointing to the fact that the video is fake. Adweek also thinks it’s fake. Still, I can’t wait to play wipEout 2048 on the PS Vita next month.

I also chatted with some of the wipEout 2048 developers on twitter about the video. You can read their responses here.

Update 21st Jan 2012: This video has now been confirmed as fake on the WipEout 2048 Facebook page.

WipEout 2048 is released on the 22nd Feb 2012 in US and Europe and on the 19th Jan 2012 in Japan for the PS Vita.

Amazingly Insane

Your home for the majority of the game is the city of Steelport which is filled with all manner of weapons, vehicles and activities to keep you entertained. From calling in airstrikes, marauding around in a tank, stealing private jets and base jumping off the sides of buildings, the game panders to your every desire. And I had a lot of desires. Heck, I spent the entire game running round as a 6 foot, gold-skinned nude guy with a giant red afro. The insane Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax activities also gave me time to indulge my – hitherto deeply repressed – love of murdering people dressed as mascots. In other games this kind of behaviour would be a very bad thing and frowned upon. In the world of Saints Row I got rewarded with lots of money.

To give the game some structure, purpose and funny dialogue there were just under 50 missions available. All of them consisted of doing insane crap with other members of your Saints gang as you collectively battled to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons Syndicate. For reasons unknown, the Syndicate employ vast numbers of lingerie-clad hench women. This made some of the street battles resemble a La Senza flashmob gone wrong. Very wrong.

While you can ignore the missions and just explore the city, they are vital in unlocking extra skills and abilities – better health regeneration, dual pistols/SMGs, fire and explosive damage reduction which all help to make your character even more awesome.

Almost all of my stand out moments, both good and bad, took place during the missions. The good moments represent the most fun I’ve had in a videogame. Seriously. For a pilot like me, being able to fly a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) jet armed with a death ray and homing rockets and shooting up the city is the best thing ever. I even managed to land a light aircraft on the helipad attached to my rooftop penthouse by using the swimming pool as a temporary runway. I challenge you to do the same. (Link/tweet us a more awesome picture than mine if you do).

What’s great is the game encourages you to do stupid stuff like that and never takes itself too seriously. There is none of Grand Theft Auto IV’s dull and dreary take on life. In the world of the Saints being cocky, stinking rich and coloured pink is the way forward. Sure I had to contend with the police and rival gangs if I killed a few too many people but for the most part I was able to do anything I wanted.

Incredibly Irritating

The biggest let down and the cause of all my annoyances with the game centred around the exceptionally crap AI. The other Saints are so mind-numbingly stupid that they’d happily sabotage mission objectives on a regular basis; shooting the crap out of a truck that I’m trying to protect for instance. Unfortunately, you can’t carry out missions alone so I was forced to come up with various ways to sideline my partner(s) as much as possible.

The dumb AI plagues every other vehicle driver too. If you thought that GTA IV’s drivers were erratic, the ones in Steelport are easily the worst ever. Cars will inexplicably drive into buildings, other vehicles, burst into flames or try to execute a three point turn with the finesse of a 2 year-old child. This type of behaviour was especially annoying during my many swift escapes from blowing up things like army bases, entire buildings or just driving home after a night watching strippers only to be taken out by an erratic driver.

Also Co-op

Playing the game in co-op mode is infinity less annoying, unless of course your mate’s a total dumbass. In this mode everything is exactly the same as single-player but with your mate replacing the stupid AI-controlled character. There really is nothing better than mooching around in the city together, surfing on top of jets (yes, really), destroying buildings and stealing street cleaning vehicles. Co-op absolutely rocks in Saints Row: The Third. The lack of offline split-screen is disappointing but just persuade your friends to buy and game and everything will be fine. Whored mode is also available when you fancy killing wave after wave of enemies using things like a tank or a chainsaw. Unlike its terribly-punned name, you’re not actually besieged by whores here. All sorts of enemies will race up to be shot in the nuts. This did add a bit of fun to something I usually find quite dull to play.

But Should You Buy It?

In the end none of the issues really matter. The game is rammed with so much stupid, insane, vulgar, funny and violent content that only a handful of annoying missions during the middle third of the game came close to wiping the giant smile off my face. Volition Inc have focused on removing anything that might get in the way of having fun so you end up doing more of the things that entertain you. If you don’t have fun playing Saints Row: The Third then you must be dead inside. Or a politician.

Saints Row: The Third is out now for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Also given the tie in with Games for Windows LIVE account, Microsoft Flight is clearly trying to make aviation more accessible and popular. According to Joshua Howard, executive producer of Microsoft Flight

Aviation can be incredibly technical, but we’ve taken great care to build an experience that makes taking to the skies thrilling and accessible for everyone.

Recently I’ve used Flight Simulator X with SE England satellite terrain add-on to practice for my Private Pilots Licence (JAR PPL) exams. I needed that high level of authenticity that Flight Simulator series has always provided.

I just hope the Microsoft Flight team haven’t forgotten those of us who don’t care about aero-caches or missions and just want to fly aircraft in the most realistic way possible outside a real cockpit.

You can still sign up to the closed Microsoft Flight beta if you can’t wait until the spring for the full release.

Microsoft Flight is currently in closed beta and will be available later on in 2012.

So Sony’s started the marketing campaign for wipEout 2048 then. Good job really as the game is released in Japan in only 16 days time. I was a little suspicious of the video because the ships look like CGI, the Japan Insitute of Science and Technology doesn’t exist and searching for the name JISTQuantum leads you to Sony Japan’s (SCEJ) Metacafe video channel. Shame really, as I’d love to have an anti-gravity racing track in my flat.

Check out our Unity Square zone mode and Rockway Stadium videos to see just how awesome wipEout 2048 looks on the PS Vita. For real this time.

Update 4th Jan 2011: Quantum Levitation is a real thing as you can see in this video. The really cool stuff starts from 2:34. Thanks to Matthew for posting the video link on our Facebook page.

wipEout 2048 is released on the 22nd Feb 2012 in US and Europe and on the 19th Jan 2012 in Japan for the PS Vita.

• Anile – Change Of Direction (WipEout mix)
• Camo+Krooked – Breezeblock (WipEout mix)
• Deadmau5 – Some Chords (WipEout edit)
• DirtyLoud – School Of Funk
• DJ Fresh ft. Sian Evans – Louder (Drum Sound & Baseline Smith Mix)
• Future Sound Of London – We Have Explosive (2011 rebuild) WipEout edit
• Kraftwerk – Tour De France 2003 (WipEout edit)
• Noisia – Regurgitate (WipEout 2048 Edit)
• Orbital – P.E.T.R.O.L (Final Drop Mix)
• Orbital – Beelzedub
• Rockwell – BTKRSH (WipEout edit)
• The Chemical Brothers – Electronic Battle Weapon 3
• The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die (Liam H re-amped mix)
• Underworld – Kittens (Will Saul & Tam Cooper Remix)

I recognised both The Prodigy and Future Sound Of London songs when I was playing the Unity Square zone mode and Rockway Stadium tracks at the recent Vita Rooms event.

However, Tim Wright (aka CoLD SToRAGE) previously told me at London Gaming Con 2011 and has now announced on his Facebook page that he has a folder on his hard drive called CoLD SToRAGE 2048 containing lots of remixes.

All we need now is a custom soundtrack feature to appear in wipEout 2048 and I’ll be happy. Japanese PS Vita owners will be able to download a demo of wipEout 2048 from the 17th Jan 2012.

WipEout 2048 will be released on the 22nd Feb 2012 for PS Vita.

The new track is called Rockway Stadium and it joins Queen’s Mall, Empire Climb, Sol, Unity Square and Metro Park in the list of tracks that have been unveiled so far.

Here’s a video showing me tackling a class B speed race event on Rockway Stadium from season 2. Class B is equivalent to Rapier speed in previous WipEout games. Debbie and I talk you through the ship selection screen, weapons, skill-cuts, the HUD and photo mode.

WipEout 2048 will be released on the 22nd Feb 2012 for PS Vita.

You can apply for the beta via Microsoft Connect. You will need to accept the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) agreement before submitting your application. It’s all fairly standard stuff for an NDA – don’t record, talk or write about anything in the beta. But I did find point 4 quite funny:

• Do not allow others to play or watch you play the beta software

So I’ll have to keep an eye on Weefz if I get selected as our PCs are in the same room. Hmmm, that could prove troublesome.

Chaps, It's Time For A Bad Weather Approach

Once you’ve accepted the NDA there’s a few basic questions to answer – Name, age, country, email address and gamertag. If you don’t have a gamertag you will have to create a new one otherwise no beta for you. The Flight team will then contact successful applicants in Jan 2012.

You can keep up to date with all the latest Microsoft Flight beta news via their website and/or Facebook page or right here on The Average Gamer.

Microsoft Flight will be released during 2012 for PC.